Old Du of Shanghai Bund 1934

  The next morning, the small steamer set sail again, heading towards Shanghai. Along the way, there was no conversation. At noon, the small steamer arrived at the dock on the Huangpu River. From a distance, everyone saw that there were more than a dozen men wearing black clothes standing on the dock, each with a pistol holster around their waist, looking fierce and menacing. Fortunately, Du Xin Yu had told everyone in advance that they were bodyguards sent by her father to welcome her, otherwise, with the temperament of the assault team, they would have almost drawn their guns and opened fire.

  The boat docked, a middle-aged man in a long shirt quickly walked to the side of the boat under the protection of several bodyguards. Du Xinyu, who was already standing by the boat, shouted: "Dad!"

  Middle-aged man with a happy face: "Xin Yu, you scared me to death."

  As soon as the boat stopped, Du Xinyu didn't wait for the owner to put down the plank and jumped from the boat to the shore in one swift motion. She flung herself into Old Du's arms, laughing and crying at the same time. The fierce woman who had previously threatened to drown people in the river suddenly turned into a spoiled little girl rolling around on the ground.

  Mr. Du stroked Du Xinyu's shoulder and back with his hand, smiling and greeting Luo Yi, He Jichun and others who were disembarking one after another. From the telegram he had received earlier, he already knew that it was these people who had saved Du Xinyu. As a seasoned businessman in Shanghai, Mr. Du understood the importance of etiquette and would not neglect these formalities.

  He Jichun stepped forward and shook hands with Du Laoban. Du Xinyu hastily introduced, "Dad, this is Uncle He Jichun from the Shanghai Municipal Government, he said he had met you before."

  Mr. Du was taken aback, seemingly thinking of when he had met He Jichun before. He Jichun smiled slightly and leaned forward to whisper something in Mr. Du's ear. A look of surprise appeared on Mr. Du's face as he stretched out his hands again to grasp He Jichun's hand, saying: "I apologize for my mistake. My daughter was rescued by Mr. He, I, Du, am truly grateful."

  He Jichun pointed at Luo Yi and said, "Boss Du, let me introduce you. This is Mr. Luo Yi from Jiangxi. In fact, it was him and his men who rescued Miss Du. As far as I know, Miss Du was coerced by the villains at that time, and it was Mr. Luo who personally knocked out the villain and rescued Miss Du."

  Mr. Du looked back at Du Xinyu and saw a mixture of recognition and shyness on her face, although he wasn't sure where the shyness came from, but it was enough to confirm that He Jichun's introduction was true. Mr. Du bowed respectfully to Luo Yi, intending to make a very formal greeting.

  Luo Yi saw the situation and hastily stretched out his hand to stop Du Lao Ban, repeatedly saying: "Du Lao Ban, this is not right. You are my senior, how can I accept such courtesy from you? Seeing injustice on the road and drawing one's sword to assist is a very ordinary matter, I don't deserve your grand courtesy."

  Just as Mr. Du was about to say something, Du Xinyu pulled Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan over together, interrupting the conversation between Mr. Du and Luo Yi: "Dad, let me introduce you, this is Yuan Jing, this is Zeng Shan, they are two sisters I just met."

  Du Xinyu was intentionally interrupting, she had some dissatisfaction with being rescued by Luo Yi, afraid that her father would say something thankful to him, or even ask her to bow to Luo Yi, wouldn't that be embarrassing? Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan were pulled by Du Xinyu in front of Boss Du, and shouted together: "Boss Du!"

  In Yuan Jing's mind, she really didn't want to greet Du Laoban. In her education, people like Du Laoban were typical big capitalists and objects of revolution. It was already good that they hadn't taken his land, let alone greeting him. However, she wasn't a reckless person and knew what to do in different situations. Zeng Shan didn't mind, having become familiar with Du Xinyu on the boat ride, so naturally greeted her father. Moreover, Du Laoban looked kind and gentle, not like the black society leader Luo Ziguo had mentioned.

  Mr. Du had wanted to chat with Luo Yi for a few more sentences, but seeing his daughter interrupt, he didn't want to disappoint her enthusiasm either. He smiled apologetically at Luo Yi and turned to face Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan, saying: "The two ladies are truly national beauties, I, Du, came in a hurry and didn't bring anything, this meeting gift, I'll definitely make it up later."

  Zeng Shan smiled and said: "Du boss, don't be polite. We and Xinyu are all good friends, no need to be polite."

  He Jichun saw that they were chatting enthusiastically, so he said: "Everyone slow down, I still have official business and need to leave first. Du boss, I'll visit your house another day. Luo younger brother, the things you want to do, I've taken note of them, and I'll help you ask about them later. You give me a call in two days."

  Mr. Du and Luo Yi responded in unison, He Jichun nodded to everyone and jumped onto a rickshaw and left. Mr. Du saw him off into the distance, then turned around and asked Luo Yi: "Mr. Luo, with so many people coming to Shanghai, do you have convenient accommodations?"

  Luo Yi said: "Oh, I'm here in Shanghai for the first time and I'm not very familiar with it. In a moment, I'll have Mr. Zhang go find an inn."

  Mr. Du said, "If Mr. Luo doesn't mind, you can stay at my place. I've just opened an inn in Shanghai, which is quite decent and livable. If you all move over, I'll have the chance to learn from Mr. Luo morning and night."

  Luo Yi smiled and said, "That's great to hear. I was worried about being in the dark in Shanghai. With Boss Du's guidance, I won't have to worry about it here."

  Everyone burst out laughing, and Luo Yi instructed Su Xiaofeng and Le Jialin to organize the crowd, carrying the things they brought with them as they followed Du Boss's people. Du Boss had brought several cars for this trip, and the bodyguards were riding in a truck, which had enough space. Su Xiaofeng and others got on the truck, while Luo Yi sat in Du Boss's sedan at his invitation. Du Xinyu originally wanted to ride with her father, but seeing Luo Yi get in the car, she pulled Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan into another sedan. As for the several thugs from the Wulong Gang who were caught by Luo Yi and others, they had already been taken away by Du Boss's bodyguards beforehand.

  Zeng Shan followed Mrs. Zhang to Wuhan, and had sat in a small sedan before, but only a few times. Yuan Jing was taking her first ride, and was almost at a loss for what to do with herself. Du Xinyu saw their predicament and couldn't help but feel pleased with himself, chattering away nonstop about the streets and strange new things outside the window. Yuan Jing's and Zeng Shan's eyes were wide with wonder, their mouths hanging open in amazement as they let out soft gasps of surprise from time to time.

  Sitting in Mr. Du's car, Luo Yi felt quite unfamiliar with the scenery outside the window, but his feelings were more of emotion and disdain. Mr. Du sat beside Luo Yi, using the corner of his eye to secretly glance at him, seeing that he was not moved by Shanghai's prosperity, and couldn't help but feel surprised. He didn't know that Luo Yi, who came from a later era, really didn't have much admiration for the 1930s Shanghai street scene, and the Lover's Lane in front of his school looked even more magnificent than this big Shanghai.

  The soldiers of the assault battalion sat on the truck, also looking at the street scene along the way. Lè Jiālín fully demonstrated his diplomatic skills, taking out cigarettes from his pocket and handing them to Du's bodyguards in the same car. Before long, he had become buddies with everyone. Although Old Du was involved in organized crime, there weren't many rules within the gang. The bodyguards saw that their boss and Luo Yi got into the same vehicle, so they naturally assumed that Lè Jiālín and his people were friends approved by the boss. As a result, while smoking the cigarettes given to them by Lè Jiālín, they voluntarily let him pry out quite a bit of inside information.

  Mr. Du's mansion was located near Xiafei Road, and the "Shihao Hotel" he opened was just across the street from his mansion. Mr. Du had the car take Luo Yi and his party to the hotel first, and personally got out of the car to instruct the hotel manager to arrange rooms for Luo Yi and others. On the issue of payment, Mr. Du insisted that Luo Yi was the benefactor who saved Du XinYu's life, and no matter how long he stayed, not a single penny could be charged for the room. But Luo Yi said that if they didn't charge money, he would feel embarrassed to stay for a long time. After arguing back and forth, Mr. Du finally agreed to only charge Luo Yi half of the room rate, but secretly instructed the manager to give Luo Yi and others the best rooms at the lowest price. How could Luo Yi not see the difference in between? But since Mr. Du had spoken, he was happy to pretend to be ignorant.

  "You all take a rest here first, I've already asked the manager to prepare lunch for you. Today is too rushed, and also Heart Rain's mother is anxious to see Heart Rain, so I won't join you for dinner now. Another day I will set up a banquet at the mansion to entertain you all." Old Du said to Luo Yi.

  Luo Yi hastily cupped his hands and said: "No need for courtesy, Mr. Du. Another day when it's convenient for you, I'll definitely come to visit."

  Du Xinyu had originally wanted to take Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan back to the Du Manor to live, but both girls refused. Mr. Du already knew about Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan's relationship with Luo Yi, so he didn't force them.

  Mr. Du finished arranging things and left with Du Xinyu and the bodyguards. The hotel manager, seeing Mr. Du's grandiose manner, knew that these people were not ordinary, so he doubled his efforts to entertain them carefully. He had the doorman take Luo Yi and others to their rooms and arranged for the kitchen to prepare lunch for them. However, the serving size of Shanghai cuisine was a bit too small, and the soldiers of the assault camp were all big eaters. The manager's prepared dishes were quickly finished, leaving Luo Yi and the manager somewhat embarrassed.

  After dinner, Su Xiaofeng and Tu Jiu took the guards back to their room. Le Jialin took a soldier out of the hotel to investigate the situation around them. Luo Yi came to the room where Yuan Jing and Zeng Shan lived.

  "Luozige, look, there's running water here, and hot water too!" Zeng Shanhuan excitedly showed off her discovery to Luo Yixuan.

  "Do you like it?" Luo Yi asked.

  "I like it," Zeng Shan said.

  Luo Yi said: "If you like it, stay a little longer. Anyway, Old Du gave us a discount."

  Yuan Jing asked solemnly: "Luo Zige, did we come to Shanghai just to live this kind of bourgeois life?"

  "Why is this called a bourgeois lifestyle? Can't the proletariat enjoy a life with upstairs and downstairs, electric lights and telephones?"

  "This is too luxurious!"

  Luo Yi said: "Now it seems, it's a bit luxurious. But in the future, this is just an ordinary life." Isn't that right? At least this counts as four-star, right? There are no air conditioners, color TVs, or refrigerators in the house, and only having a faucet is considered luxurious?

  "I don't want to live this kind of life every day. And that big capitalist, I don't want to have dealings with him."

  Lu Yi looked at Zeng Shan, and Zeng Shan stuck out her tongue at him. There was no way around it; on this matter, Zeng Shan and Yuan Jing really couldn't find common ground. Lu Yi said: "Xiao Jing, Shan'er, I want to talk to you about something serious. I plan to have you two stay in Shanghai for a year, and you'll need to go to school."